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Revision as of 21:51, 24 September 2007 by 82.45.249.215 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Ethnic groupFile:ACPugin.jpg,  Notable French Britions:Augustus Charles Pugin, George du Maurier, Isambard Kingdom Brunel   | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| London, South East England | |
| Languages | |
| English, French, | |
| Religion | |
| Catholic, Christian, | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French people |
French Britons are British people of French origin, or French-born people who may have attained British citizenship and who live in the United Kingdom. There are estimated to be around 200-300,000 people of French nationality living in the UK, most of them in London, a mix of students, businesspeople and general economic migrants.
History
A much larger number of British people descend from the Huguenots, French Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries fled religious persecution in France. In addition, much of Britain's mediaeval aristocracy was descended from Franco-Norman migrants to England at or after the time of the Norman Conquest. Although a substantial French Protestant community existed in London from the sixteenth century, the suppression of Protestantism in France in the 1680s led to a mass migration of predominantly Calvinist refugees, most of whom settled in London. Divided between Spitalfields in the east and Soho in the west, the French Protestant community was one of the largest and most distinctive communities of the capital.
Today, however, descendents of these people chiefly view themselves as British people of French ancestry, and not as French people living in Britain.
French influence
Famous French Britons
- Victor Hugo
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- Michel Roux, award-winning chef
- Jean-Christophe Novelli, celebrity chef
- Augustus Charles Pugin and Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, Architects
- George du Maurier (cartoonist) and his granddaughter Daphne du Maurier (Novelist)
- Sir Joseph William Bazalgette, civil engineer of the Victorian era
- Philip Hermogenes Calderon, 19th century painter
- Michèle Roberts (French mother), writer who's novel 'Daughters of the House' was shortlisted for the 1992 Booker Prize
- Benoit Grimes-Viort, fashion model
- Claude Duval, 17th century Highwayman
- Jean-Benoît Blanc, actor
External Links
- French Institute London
- French Protestant Church of London
- Reassessing what we collect website – French London History of French London with objects and images
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